Skill perks can be gained from each of the categories listed below. The following recommendations are reasoned based on the frequency that a specific perk will be useful in your first playthrough.
Alchemy¶
| Perk | Level | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Salted and Smoked | 3 | Cured or cooked food in your inventory will spoil 20% more slowly. |
| Water of Life | 3 | Healing potions will heal you 50% more, but will also intoxicate you 50% more. |
| Witcher | 3 | Potions will fill you up 30% less, which means you can drink more of them and more often. |
| Trial and Error | 5 | When brewing you can make one extra mistake without affecting the results. |
| Venomous Blade | 5 | Poison applied to a weapon will remain on the blade longer. |
| Snake Oil Salesman | 8 | Potions you brew yourself have a 20% higher selling price. |
| Bundle Alchemist | 10 | When you successfully brew a potion, you get one extra. Doesn’t apply to autobrew. |
| Routine I | 10 | You can now auto-brew potions you have brewed once before, but you can only brew one. |
| Routine II | 13 | Autobrewing will produce 3 potions for the price of one. |
Recommended acquisition order per level: Witcher > Trial and Error > Snake Oil Salesman > Bundle Alchemist > Routine II
Drinking¶
| Perk | Level | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Beer Bibber | 4 | The beer you get is 50% weaker, so you can drink more, but wine is twice as strong and will make you drunk faster. Can’t be combined with the Wine Bibber perk. |
| Drinking Habit | 4 | Under the influence of alcohol, your hand will shake 25% less and your Bow skill is higher by +2, but when sober your hand will shake 25% more. |
| Wine Bibber | 4 | The wine you get is 50% weaker, so you can drink more, but beer is twice as strong and will make you drunk faster. Can’t be combined with the Beer Bibber perk. |
| Drunk | 7 | The benefits of alcohol last twice as long, and unless you drink yourself into oblivion, you suffer no negative effects. But once sober, your hangover will also last twice as long. |
| Loose Tongue | 7 | When drunk, you get a 50% bonus on Speech and Charisma, when hungover, these stats drop by 50%. |
| True Slav | 7 | You get drunk on 50% less alcohol, saving your hard-earned Groschen, and your hangover the next day lasts only half as long. But bear in mind that getting drunk quickly brings both the positive and negative effects of alcohol. |
| Bacchus | 10 | You’ll never drink yourself to oblivion, but the negative effects of your hangover will be 30% stronger. Can’t be combined with the Safe Passage perk. |
| Safe Passage | 10 | When you drink yourself to oblivion, you’ll wake up at home in bed and none of your inventory items will be gone. Can’t be combined with the Bacchus perk. |
| Top Shelf | 10 | Spirits are 50% weaker for you, so you can drink more. |
Recommended acquisition order per level: Wine Bibber > Drunk > Top Shelf
Herbalism¶
| Perk | Level | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Flower Power | 5 | If you’ve got enough fragrant herbs in your inventory, you get a +2 Charisma bonus. |
| Horsenip | 5 | If your horse has enough fragrant herbs in its saddlebag, it will shy less. |
| Botanist | 10 | The herbs you sell have a 15% higher price. |
| Leg Day | 10 | Herb-picking activity will add experience to your Strength stat too. |
| Resistance | Collect 100 Nettles | You’ve collected such a quantity of poisonous herbs or nettles that your Vitality is permanently increased by +2. |
Recommended acquisition order per level: Flower Power > Leg Day
Horsemanship¶
| Perk | Level | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Heavy Pony Duty | 4 | Your horse can carry more, but is slower. Can’t be combined with the Racehorse perk. |
| Racehorse | 4 | Your horse is faster, but can carries less weight. Can’t be combined with the Heavy Duty Pony perk. |
| Dread Steed | 7 | If your horse is wounded, it will run faster. |
| Rider on the Storm | 7 | Your horse will be extremely skittish in storms, but will shy less in any other weather. |
| Strong Thighs | 7 | Increases your chances of staying in the saddle if an opponent tries to unhorse you. |
| Knight | 10 | You get a 15% damage bonus in mounted combat with both range and melee weapons. |
| Warhorse | 10 | Your horse won’t shy at nearby foes, at least as long as no one hits him. |
| Jockey | 14 | A horse will never throw you outside of combat. |
Recommended acquisition order per level: Heavy Pony Duty > Dread Steed > Knight > Jockey
Hunting¶
| Perk | Level | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Antlers | 3 | Enables you to get antlers from hunted animals. |
| Tusks | 3 | You’re able to remove tusks from some animals. |
| Butcher | 5 | You’re able to get offal from hunted game. |
| Tanner | 5 | You’re able to skin dead animals. |
| Huntsman | 8 | You’ll cause wild animals 20% more damage. |
| Wild at Heart | 8 | Wild animals will be less skittish when you’re close. |
| Forester | 10 | Your conspicuousness and visibility fall sharply when in the woods, so you can be stealthier. Useful, especially when stalking people. |
| Salty | 10 | Raw foods in your inventory won’t spoil so fast. |
| Steak Tartare | 13 | You can eat raw meat. |
Recommended acquisition order per level: Tusks > Butcher > Wild at Heart > Forester > Steak Tartare
Lockpicking¶
| Perk | Level | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Lasting Lockpicks | 3 | Your lockpicks will be more durable and last twice as long. |
| Repairman | 3 | After successfully picking a lock, you have a 20% chance of any broken lockpicks returning to your inventory. |
| Deft Grip | 6 | The starting position when lockpicking will be closer to the end of the lock, making it easier to open. |
| Luck of the Drunk | 6 | It’ll be 30% easier to open locks when drunk, but it will also be 30% noisier. |
| Silent Fiddler | 9 | You’re able to work almost silently with a lockpick, even if the lockpicking isn’t going well. The noise a snapping lockpick makes is reduced by 90%. |
| Sixth Sense | 9 | Your sixth sense will warn you if someone is about to catch you in the act of lockpicking, so you’ll have more time to escape. |
| Lucky Thief | 12 | If you lockpick breaks you’ll have a 10% chance of opening the lock instantly. |
| Master Thief | 12 | You can unlock easier locks automatically. |
Recommended acquisition order per level: Lasting Lockpicks > Deft Grip > Silent Fiddler > Lucky Thief
Maintenance¶
| Perk | Level | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Fragrance | 3 | With freshly laundered clothes on, you have +1 higher Charisma for one day. |
| Seven Mile Boots | 3 | If you’re wearing boots you repaired yourself, sprinting will cost you 20% less Stamina, so you can run longer. |
| Saville Row | 6 | Every item of clothing that you’re wearing that you’ve repaired yourself adds 0.5 to Charisma, up to a maximum bonus of +2. Doesn’t apply to armour. |
| Stuffing | 6 | When you repair your own armour you’re able to pad it so it doesn’t jangle as much and lower your stealth ability. |
| Serrated Edge | 9 | A weapon you’ve sharpened yourself has a 15% greater chance of causing bleeding. |
| Tin Opener | 9 | A weapon you’ve sharpened yourself will cause 15% greater damage to your opponent’s armour and equipment. |
| Blacksmith’s Son | 12 | Weapons you repair with a repair kit have a 10% stronger attack, until they get too damaged. |
| Well Groomed | 12 | The attire you have on will suffer 15% less wear and tear. |
Recommended acquisition order per level: Seven Mile Boots > Saville Row > Serrated Edge > Blacksmith’s Son
Pickpocketing¶
| Perk | Level | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Comrade | 2 | Increases your chance of pickpocketing someone with the same Charisma level as you have. Such people are usually dressed similarly to you. |
| Secret Pockets | 2 | When looting corpses, you’ll find more money. |
| Crowd Control | 4 | Reduces your chance of being discovered when there’s a lot of people around. |
| Easy Way Out | 4 | The movement of the cursor in a pickpocketing victim’s inventory will be twice as fast. |
| Item Expert I | 6 | Reveals stats for half the items in a pickpocketing victim’s purse. |
| Pocket Sight I | 6 | Immediately reveals one of the items in a pickpocketing victim’s inventory. |
| Friendly Neighbour | 8 | If anyone who likes you at least a little catches you pickpocketing, they won’t call the guard on you. Your reputation will still fall though. |
| Hidden Pockets | 8 | When arrested and searched, you’ll keep some of the stolen items in your inventory. |
| Item Expert II | 10 | Reveals the stats of all items in a pickpocketing victim’s purse. |
| Pocket Sight II | 10 | Immediately reveals three of the items in a pickpocketing victim’s inventory. |
| Pocket Sight III | 14 | Immediately reveals all the items in a pickpocketing victim’s inventory. |
Recommended acquisition order per level: Secret Pockets > Easy Way Out > Item Expert I > Friendly Neighbour > Item Expert II > Pocket Sight III
Reading¶
| Perk | Level | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Colleague | 3 | All books are cheaper in shops. |
| In the Flow | 3 | When reading, you will get tired and hungry twice as slowly as normal. |
| Art Connoisseur | 5 | The first time you look at a fresco, cross or wayside shrine, your Charisma will increases temporarily by +2. |
| Magistrate I | 5 | Being well-learned, you make a better impression on people and get a +1 Speech bonus when trying to persuade a guard. |
| Avid Reader | 7 | Your level of study of the book you’ve read most of will advance automatically while sleeping or skipping time. |
| Cushion | 7 | If you’re sitting comfortably you get a double reading bonus. |
| Magistrate II | 9 | Your Speech bonus when trying to persuade a guard rises to +2. |
| Swot | 9 | It doesn’t matter to you where you read, you get a learning bonus anywhere you read. |
| Magistrate III | 12 | Your Speech bonus when persuading guards is increases to +3. |
| Cartographer | 14 | The whole map is revealed to you, showing all settlements, hunting spots and caves. |
Recommended acquisition order per level: In the Flow > Magistrate I > Cushion > Magistrate II > Magistrate III > Cartographer
Stealth¶
| Perk | Level | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Takedown | 0, Default perk | Let’s you knock people out from a crouching position. |
| Daring Debonair | 3 | After committing a crime, you get a +1 bonus to Strength and Vitality until you’re caught or leave the scene of the crime. |
| Rain Man | 3 | You move almost silently in the rain. The noise of your footsteps is reduced by 70%. |
| Crouching Chameleon | 5 | When crouching without movement you get a 30% Stealth bonus. |
| Stealth Kill | 5 | Allows you to kill from stealth. You have to have a dagger. |
| Ordinary Mug | 8 | When you’re wanted, people are less likely to recognise your face and soon stop looking for you. |
| Slim Fit | 8 | Lowers the noise of armour and other equipment by 20%. |
| Dog Person | 10 | Dogs won’t bark at you. |
| Et Tu, Brute | 10 | Your attacks from behind will be one third stronger. |
Recommended acquisition order per level: Rain Man > Stealth Kill > Ordinary Mug > Dog Person
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